Separable rim for vehicle wheels



Aug. 1L 1925. l l 1,549,454

F. L. COX ET All.

SEPARABLE RlM FOR VEHICLE WHEELS Filed Oct. l5, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fig. Z

. Aug. 11, 192s.

F. L. COX ET AL SEPARABLE RIM FOR VEHICLE WHEELS F'iledOct. 15, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 `panying drawings, wherein- Patented Aug. ll, 1925.

UNITED STATES FLOYD L COX .AND BOY C. BROCK, 0F DAVENPORT, IOWA.

i SEPARABLE RIM FOR VEHICLE WHEELS:

y Application led October 15, 1923. Serial No. 668,672.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, FLOYD L. Cox and RoY C. BROCK, citizens of the United States, residing at Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Separable Rims for Vehicle Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

This application is a continuation in part of our application for Letters Patent of the United States filed September 14, 1922, Serial No. 588,196, for improvements in separable rims or motor vehicle wheels.

`The main object of this invention is to provide an improved separable rim to be used upon vehicle wheels and the like.

A further object of the invention is to provide a vehicle wheel rim for carrying a tire, the construction of the rim permitting the rim and tire to be assembled in a mini-1.

mum of time and with but little-eiiort as compared with the time and eort now required to assemble a tire with one of the rims now in use.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a vehicle wheel rim having separable members Which are held against displacement relative to each other by the tire mounted upon the rim.

@ther objects of the invention will become apparent as the detail deseri tion progresses, reference being had-to the accom- Fig. 1 is a perspective View of our improved vehicle wheel rim, the rim comprislng a plurality of com lementary members shown in spacedrelatlon to illustrate the construction thereof.

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, the complementary members of the rim being shown in positions wherein movement of one of the members in the direction of a diameter thereof will cause it to interlock with the other member. i

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are central transverse sections through the rim and a tire being assembled therewith, and

' Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective of the rim and a tire assembled therewith, the purpose of this figure being to illustrate a preferred method of separating the members of the rim to permit removal of the tire.

Referring :for thepresent to Fi 1, each of the reference characters 10 an 1*()a designates one of a pair of complementary discriminately interchanged with the complementary members of another rim of like construction. The essence of the invention lies in'the construction of the rim, which construction enables the operator to assemble the complementary members in place in a tire quickly and easily,V and which construction permits the tire to hold the complementary members in place, thus obviatting the necessity o1 providing separate means for performing this 'function yassigned to the tire.

The complementary members 10 and 10 preferably comprise circular sections 11 and 11a respectively which are provided -with flaring vannular flanges 12 and 12a respectively, the flaring flanges 12 and 12- being adapted to prevent lateral displacement of a tire (Fig. 6) carried by the rim. It will Abe noted that the flaring annular flanges 12 and 12a are formed integral with the circular sections 11 and l1 respectively at the outer edges thereof. Projecting laterally from the inner edges of the circular sections l1 and 11a are arcuate flanges 13 and 13* respectively. The arcuate flange 13 is disposed concentrlcally with respect to the axis of the circularsection 11 and'it extends through an arc of less than 180. In a like manner, the arcuate flange 13a is disposed concentrically with respect to the axis of the circular section 11n and it also extends through an arc ot`less than 180. The arcuate flanges 13 and 13 are provided with grooves 14 and 14a respectively (Fig. 2) which are adapted to be engaged by certain lugs or` ribs preferably formed integral with the circular sections 11 and 11, the groove 14 being adapted to be engaged b the rib 158L formed integral with the circu ar section 11 and the roove 14* being adapted to be engaged by t e rib 15 formed integral with the circular section 11. Each of the Yribs 15 and 15 is arranged to lie in the plane substantially normal to the axis of its respective circular section and each of the ribs may be said to form an arc of less than 180. As clearly shown in Figs. l and 3, each of the ribs 15 and 159- tapers from a maximum height at a point intermediate its ends to a minimum height at its ends. Torecapitulate, each of the complementarymembers preferably comprises a circular sections a flaring annular ange formed integral with the circular section, a grooved arcuate flange formed integral with and projecting laterally of the circular section, and a tapered.

rib disposed in a plane substantially normal to the axis of the circular section, the rib being disposed diametrically with respect to the arcuate Harige. And it is'well to point out at this point in the description that the. outermost cylindrical surfaces 16 and 16m of the arcuate iianges 13 and 13al respectively may be defined as cylindrical surfaces lying below the tiresupporting surfaces 1'? and 17s ot the circular section 11 and 11 re spectively. n

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be noted that the complementary members may be placed in positions wherein portions of the inner edge of the member will con tact portions of the inner edge ci the meinr4 ber?` 10?. and wherein the groove 1liwill be directly beneath the rib 15, the rib L being disposed directly beneath. the groove il. llben'fthe complementary members are so disposed relatively to each others the arcuate iiange 13 projects into the circular section 11, and tbe arcuate flange 13 projects into the circular section 11a. in inspection of Figs.. 2 and@ will malte apparent the iact that there will be no interference between the arcuate flanges and the ribs because each rib and flange extends through an arc oi' less than 1800. it will also be apparent that the arcuate flanges will not bind upon the inner cylindrical surfaces of the circular sections as the outermost cylindrical snriaces 16 and lila of the arcuate tlanges have been lowered beneath their respective tire supporting surfaces a distance sufficient to prevent such binding action, and in addi tion the ribs have been tapered to insure Y -sulicient clearance.

After the complementary members have been disposed in the relative positions shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the complementary member 10a may be moved upwardly until its groove la is engaged by the rib 15 of tbe complementary member 10. 'lloisA movement of the complementary member' 10*L will 10. The complementary member 10a sim- Leonesa ply slides into position and no accompanying angular displacement thereof relative to the complementary member 10 is necessary. Fig. 6 shows the complementary members in interlocked positions.

We will new describe the manner in which We prefer to assemble the complementary members with a tire.

llflien the complementary members are to be assembled witlia tire, either one of the complementary members is i'irst placed upon a suitable support which is indicated by the line 18 in Figs. i, 5, and '6. ln these figures, We have shown the complementary member 10 resting upon the support 18. Referring now to F 1g. 4, it .will be noted that the complementary member 10a has been placed upon the'support 18 in a position which permits a partially inated tire 19 to be properly placed upon the member, the tire being shown'in its correct position. The complementary mem-` ber 10 has been inserted in the tire and rests upon the complementary member 10, the arcuate ilange i3 resting upon the rib 15a and the rib 15 resting upon the arcuate flange 13a. The resilient tire serves to hold the complementary members in positions .wherein their axes are substantially coincident. New if a torce is applied lin the direction and at the point indicated by the arrow :20 a), the complementary .member 10 will slide first to the right (Fig. Il) and then downwardly until the groove 14 is engaged by the rib 15a o1c the complementary member 10a. The complementary members 10 and 10 will then occupy the re1- ative positions shown in Fig. 5; the tire 19 will be deformed and will seek to drive the complementary member 10 to the left (Fig. 5) which action would, of course, cause the rib 152' to enter the groove 14. However, in actual practice it has been found that the tire 19 can only exert suilicient force to hold the complementary members in the relative positions shown in Fig. 5. With the complementary members held in the relative positions shown in Fig. 5, it is only necessary to apply a force in the direction and at the point indicated by the arrovv 21 (Fig. 5) to cause the complementary member 10 to snap into the relative position shown in Fig. 6. Wliile the applied force tends to drive the complementary member 10 to the right (Figs. 5 and 6), it will bareadily understood that as soon as'the complementaryinember 1() has beenv forced lnto a position wherein its rib 15 is ali ned with the groove 145-, a cessation of the cree applied in the direction of 'the arrow 2l is accompanied by a restoration of the tire to its normal form and the complementary member 10 is shifted into a position Wherein it intel-locks with the complementary member 10a. The manner in which force llO lill

is applied in the directions and at the points indicated by thearrows 20y and 21 is, as follows: f y

The operator first pushes with his foot against the point indicated by the arrow 20 until the complementary members assume the relative positions shown in Fig. 5. rllhen the .operator 'steps' over onto that point which is designated by the arrow 21 nand the member l() snaps into a position which permits the tire to complete the assembling operation the instant the operator steps 0H the rim. Therefore, the entire operation of assembling the complementary members with the tire consists of arranging the several parts as shown v'in Figgifstepping upon the point indicated by the arrow 20 and then stepping over to the point indicated by the arrow 21.

The assembled rim and tire-may be considered a unit as this assembly may be carried, as a spare tire; the tire 19 will prevent displacement of the complementary members relative to each other. The latter statement isesp'ecially `true when the tire is in a fully inflated condition.l

Fig. 7 illustrates the manner in which the complementary members are removed from the tire. The operator holds the tire in a substantially upright position and pushes with his foot against the complementary member l()a at a point adjacent the rim 15a, thus forcing that portion to be displaced in the direction indicated by the arrow 22. As the tire will have been partially or wholly deflated before an attempt is made to remove the rim therefrom, displacementof the member 10 in the direction indicated by the arrow 22 will permit the complementary members to assume the relative positions shown in Fig. 5 after which it is but a simple matter to remove the complementary members from the tire.

To prevent circumferential creeping of the members 10 and 10a relative to the felly of the wheel upon which the rim may be mounted, we have provided pins 23 and 23a upon the com lementary members 10 and 10 respective y. The pins project inwardly from the inner cylindrical surfaces of the complementary `members and are adapted to en age transverse grooves or the like in the elly of the Wheel associated with the rim. It is apparent that the' pins will prevent angular displacement of Vthe cornplementary members relative to the fe l -The reference characters 24 and 24a designate registering notches in the inner edges `air valve carried by the tire 19.

We are' aware that changes in the form, construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and Without sacrificing the advantages of the invention and we reserve the right to make all such changes as fairly fall Within the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A wheelv rim comprising a circular member having a groove extending ythrough a portion of its circumference Aand having a rib diametrically opposite to said groove and extending through a portion of the circumference of said member.

2. A wheel rim comprising a circular member having a tire engaging surface, a circular flange lying below the tire engaging surface and provided with a groove, and a rib diametrically opposed to said flange.

3. A wheel rim comprising a circular member having a tire engagin surface, a groove below said surface and extending through a portion of the circumference of 'ns l said member less than 180, and a rib lying below said surface and diametrically opposed to said groove, said rib also extending through a portion ofthe circumference of said member less than 180.

4. A wheel rim comprising a circular member' having a tire engaging surface, a circular fiange lying below the tire engaging surface and provided with a groove, and a rib diametrically opposed to said flange, said rib being tapered from a maximum height at a point intermediate its ends to a minimum height at its ends. l

5. A wheel rim comprising two members', each member formed with a tire supporting surface, one of said members having a groove below said surface and substantially normal thereto, and the other of said members having a rib substantially normal to saidy surface and below the Vsame and engaging the groove in the other of said members, where it is held against lateral displacement' by contact with the walls of said groove. i

6. A wheel rim comprising two members,` each member formed with a tire supporting surface, one of said members having a groove below said surface and substantially normal thereto, and the other of said members having a rib substantially normal to said 'surface and below the same and engaging the groove in the other of said members where it is held against lateral displacement by contact with the walls of said groove, and means for preventing axial rotation of said memn bers with respect to each other.

7. A. wheel rim comprising two members, one member having a tire supporting surface, a groove lying below said surface through a portion of the circumference thereof, a rib lying below said Surface through another portion of the circumference thereof,said second member having a tire supporting surface, a. rib extending below said surface and received within the groove on seid iirst named member and also having e groove beneath another portion of said surface receiving tbe rib on said first named member. y

8. A wheel rim comprising two members, one member bevin a tire supporting surieee, e `groove lying below seid surface through a Aportion of ltbe circumference thereof, e rib Ylying below said 'surface i0 through enother portion of the circumference thereof, said second member having a tire supporting surface, e rib extending below said surface and received within the groove on said first named member and also having e groove beneath another portion of seid snrfecereceiving the rib on seid first named member, and means to prevent axial rotation of one member relative to the other.

FLOYD L. COX. ROY C. BROCK. 

